


Varsity Outcasts

by bandable



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Attempt at Humor, Basketball, Cute, Fluff, Humor, Kissing, M/M, dongpyo is a theatre kid, i had this fic posted a while ago but repurposed it and rewrote a bunch of it, im sorry, it's not the same fic but it shares most of the major plot lines, literally no angst this is all fluff, uh i don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-16 00:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21498946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bandable/pseuds/bandable
Summary: Minhee is a sophomore when he makes the varsity basketball team. Eunsang's a new student when he makes the team. Being the two youngest members of the team, they find comfort in each other as they tackle not only the basketball season, but also the fact that they're falling in love with each other.OR; it's a cute high school fic with no angst!
Relationships: Cha Junho/Son Dongpyo, Cha Junho/Song Hyeongjun, Kang Minhee/Lee Eunsang, Son Dongpyo/Song Hyeongjun
Comments: 8
Kudos: 92





	Varsity Outcasts

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! thanks for reading this fic!
> 
> this is one of my favorite tropes, and since i originally wrote this story for an older fandom a while ago (the fic isn't posted anymore!) i wanted to rewrite it and fix it up. i took some of the major plotpoints from the original fic, but for the most part this is rewritten a lot!
> 
> hopefully you enjoy this anyway, as i enjoyed writing it! (or rewriting, i guess.)
> 
> take this as a distraction from all the shitty stuff going on right now!

Minhee had decided to try out for basketball on a whim. He had been playing club basketball outside of school for a while and had done it throughout junior high. However, this was _high school_ , where kids got cut from teams and weren’t handed a jersey and spent the entire seasons sitting on the bench. (Of course, kids were still benchwarmers but even the benchwarmers could actually play. They weren’t there for the participation trophy.)

As a sophomore, he was expecting to either make the frosh team or not make a team at all. He hadn’t noticed the coaches leaning to each other during tryouts and whispering to each other, “Number 9—he’s got some serious talent.”

He didn’t see his number get written down on the coach’s notepad, circled in red multiple times. He _definitely_ didn’t hear the coaches whisper to each other on the last day of tryouts, “Number nine?” “I say varsity.” “Me too.”

The day the team lists were posted, Minhee was tempted to just avoid the papers taped outside the gym altogether and find out through someone else whether he had made a team or not. However, when he arrived at school that Thursday, Dongpyo was waiting for him. “Dude, you have to go check the team lists _right now_!”

Minhee stumbled as Dongpyo grabbed his wrist and started to drag him toward the direction of the gym, “What? Why? Why are we hurrying? Did I not make it?” He asks, his stomach sinking as he admits to himself that he really did want to make a team this year.

Dongpyo stops, throwing him a weird glance over his shoulder, “Minhee—“ He stops, shaking his head, “Just come on!”

He drags Minhee the rest of the way down the hallway and stops in front of the paper that says “VARSITY” in big letters across it. Minhee, not one to catch a hint, walks over to the one that says “FROSH”. He reads down the numbers, and his heart sinks as well. “Oh. I guess I didn’t make it, then.” Minhee shrugs, trying to paint a smile on his face, “That’s fine. I’m not that great anyway, I’ll just play club again this ye—“

Dongpyo squawks, “Minhee you are so _dense!_ ”

Minhee huffs, “I’m trying to be positive, Dongpyo!”

Dongpyo rolls his eyes, and grabs Minhee’s wrist again, pulling him in front of the varsity paper and gestures at it dramatically. “Dongpyo, I don’t know why you—“

“Just read the damn paper, Minhee!” Dongpyo exclaims, “Please.”

Minhee sighs, still not getting why Dongpyo wants him to see which seniors made varsity so badly, but he skims the paper anyway.

_#3, #2, #18, #24, #9, #4—_

_#9?!_

“Wait, what?!” Minhee exclaims a bit too loudly, quickly slapping a hand over his mouth when everyone in the hallway turns to look at him and Dongpyo.

Dongpyo grins, bouncing on his heels, “Yeah!”

Minhee scans the list again just to be 100% sure he wasn’t reading it wrong. But, nope. Right there in the middle of the list was his number. For the varsity team. “I… I made varsity?” He asks himself, mostly.

Dongpyo breaks his serene moment by starting to slap his shoulder repeatedly, “You made varsity!” He says excitedly.

It starts to really sink in for Minhee. “I made varsity!” He exclaims just as excitedly, turning to start hitting Dongpyo too.

Soon, the two were just hitting each other in the middle of the sport’s hallway.

-

Eunsang moved into the Silver Oaks High School district over the summer. He wasn’t that psyched to be starting at a new school during his sophomore year seeing as he wasn’t the biggest fan of change in the first place. He lived by routine and struggled when things changed too much.

When he started to school, though, and met Junho—who introduced him to Hyeongjun—and discovered that the school’s basketball team didn’t suck, he figured maybe Silver Oaks wasn’t going to be that bad.

He had been playing basketball since he could walk. His Dad had played it in high school, going on to get a full-ride scholarship to a university to play basketball, and ending his basketball career by becoming a coach. Eunsang was surrounded by anything and everything basketball since he was a baby, as he grew older it just became something he did. He and his dad would bond over it, his dad becoming the coach for the mini basketball team Eunsang played on when he was a child, teaching Eunsang everything he knew.

When moving, finding out that Silver Oaks’ basketball team was the reigning national champions was the only thing that made Eunsang even the _slightest_ bit okay with the change of pace.

He was hoping to make JV at least, as that’s what he played at his old school. When he showed up to tryouts and saw the talent of the other students trying out, he didn’t get his hopes up. These kids weren’t just playing around, they were all insanely talented players who probably wanted to make this a career as much as Eunsang did. He wasn’t sure if his skills measured up with the rest of the kids he saw, despite his upbringing in the sport.

That’s not to say he didn’t give it his all during tryouts, though. He tried every little trick his dad had ever given him to try and grab the coach’s attention—and maybe score himself a spot on a team. He didn’t want to spend the basketball season in the stands, a place he hadn’t been since he was in diapers.

Eunsang walked out of the last day of tryouts drenched in sweat but satisfied with his performance. He doesn’t think there was anything he could have done different and decided that—at this point—whatever happened, happened.

The morning team lists were posted, Eunsang got to school late. He got stuck in traffic and didn’t have time to think about checking the list as he rushed through the hallways, the bell had rung five minutes ago. He had to sprint up two flights of stairs to get to his math classroom before he was actually marked absent.

He still got lunch detention for his tardiness and had to spend the entire day in a state of anxiety as there wasn’t any other chance for him to get down to the gym and check the lists. He had sent Junho a text during his fifth period with his number and asked him to check the lists and tell him, finally deciding it was just time to know rather than having to see it in person.

**junho:** BRO

**eunsang:** what??? did i make a team?!

**junho:** did you make a team? DID YOU MAKE A TEAM???

**junho:** you didn’t just make a team, you made VARSITY

**eunsang:** ???????????????????/

**eunsang:** what?????????

**junho:** yea!!!! hyeongjun said that there was only one other underclassman who made varsity, too!

**junho:** the other kid is a sophomore, too, i think! but CONGRATS DUDE!!! can’t wait to make embarrassingly large posters with your face on them with hyeongjun and take them to all of your games

**eunsang:** you are never invited to one of the games

**junho:** jokes on you! they’re school events, you can’t keep me away :)

**eunsang:** rip if only i could

**junho:** >:(

**eunsang:** >:)

-

Making varsity for Minhee was one thing, finding a place where he actually fit on the team was a whole other thing. The entire team was made up of eight seniors, two juniors, one other sophomore and him. It was easy to say that the seniors and juniors on the team felt a little resentment toward Minhee. Many of them were a good three years older than Minhee and had worked their way through the other teams to make it onto varsity. They were annoyed, to say the least, that two sophomores had managed to make the team so easily. (Especially when it was revealed that the other sophomore on the team wasn’t even from their school previously.)

Because of the annoyance of the older team members, Minhee had hoped that he and the sophomore would become friends. However, two weeks after practices had begun, Minhee had only had one conversation with the other and still hadn’t caught his name. It didn’t help that Minhee was playing as a swingman and the sophomore was playing as a power forward, as they didn’t get much interaction on the court.

That all changed when they were assigned warm-up partners during the first day of the third week. “This person will be with you when we do any of our partner workouts and exercises, so get nice and comfy with them! They’re your other half for the rest of the season, got it?”

It made sense, logically, that the two sophomores would get paired together, as none of the upperclassmen wanted to work with them any more than they already had to. The seniors all had their separate friends within the team, they weren’t necessarily to become buddies with the underclassmen who they saw as intruding.

“Okay, so that leaves us with Minhee and Eunsang!” Coach Parks finishes, tapping his clipboard with his pen, “Partner up, make sure you know each other, and lineup to practice passes!”

Minhee looked up from the laces of his shoes and caught eyes with the other sophomore he now knew the name of. “Hi,” Eunsang said once he was standing in front of Minhee. “I’m Eunsang.”

Minhee struggled to stand up and laughed awkwardly when he was stable on his feet. “Oh, uh, hello. I’m Minhee.”

Then it was silent. Painfully and uncomfortably silent. Eunsang rubbed the back of his neck and Minhee coughed. “So—“

“I—“

They started to speak at the same time, then it’s a mess of “What were you going to say?”

“Oh, you can go first!”

“Sorry!”

“No, it’s fine!”

“Players, lineup!” Coach Park yells, and the awkward moment fizzles into a handful of small chuckles as they rush to get in line.

After practice, Minhee was changing into a light long-sleeved tee when Eunsang appeared next to him in the locker rooms. “Hey,”

Minhee jumps, clutching his chest, “Hi,” he responds once he’s calmed down.

Eunsang sits on the bench next to the lockers as Minhee finishes shoving his stuff into his bag, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He apologizes.

Minhee glances at him, offering a small smile, “It’s fine. I’m jumpy anyway.”

It’s silent for a small moment, “How do you feel being the only other underclassman on the team?” Eunsang asks suddenly.

Minhee pauses, “I mean… I’m happy that I’m playing and beyond ecstatic it’s with some of the best plays in the school…” His voice trails off as he zips up his bag.

“But?” Eunsang asks knowingly, “There’s a but, isn’t there?”

Minhee sits next to Eunsang on the bench to tie his shoelaces. “Yeah… it all just feels a bit hostile you know? I get it, we’re younger than them and a lot of them worked their way up through the teams to make it… But it’s not like I could help it! I didn’t _ask_ the coaches to put me on varsity, you know?”

Eunsang smiles, shaking his head, “Oh, I know, believe me.” He agrees, “They all pretty much hate me since I moved here over the summer. They don’t think I’ve “established” myself enough to be playing on the team here… like it seems they all want me to prove myself to them but won’t give me any actual chances to.”

Another silence falls, but it’s less awkward and more comfortable this time. “I guess we have each other, at least.” Eunsang shrugs, “We’re both the outcasts of the team.”

“Varsity outcasts,” Minhee offers, and then laughs, rubbing his neck. “It sounds like a bad teen rom-com, huh?”

Eunsang laughs loudly, eyes crinkling, “We’re playing the starring roles, then!” He nudges Minhee with his shoulder, “I better get going.”

Minhee nods, standing up and stretching, “Me too… I have a long walk home ahead of me.” He sighs, “My dad couldn’t pick me up tonight.”

“I can give you a ride!” Eunsang offers and then realizes that it might sound too eager. “I mean, I drive myself home anyway. I don’t mind.”

Minhee shakes his head as they leave the locker rooms and head toward the parking lot, “You don’t have to… I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”

Eunsang pulls his car keys out of his gym bag, “Do you happen to live up towards the north end?” He asks.

Minhee pauses. “Yes…” He mutters, sheepishly.

Eunsang smiles at him and Minhee shrugs off the weird feeling that fills his chest—he chalks it up to the temperature difference between the school and outside. It was _not_ because Eunsang was pretty or that he was prettier when he smiled, and even _prettier_ when he smiled **at** Minhee.

“Great!” Eunsang says enthusiastically, “I’m headed that way, anyway. Come on.”

How could Minhee say no to that? Of course, it isn’t like he _tried_ very hard, but what could go wrong in the ten-minute drive to his house? “Okay.” Minhee finally agrees as Eunsang presses a button and a grey car in the parking lot beeps.

“Don’t worry,” Eunsang jokes, “I’m a great driver.”

-

It turns out that accepting a ride home from Eunsang was simultaneously the best and worst choice of Minhee’s life.

It was the best choice because he got to spend an extra ten minutes with Eunsang and got to know him better. He found out that Eunsang liked bucket hats and was in two commercials when he was six. He moved here from three cities over, had been playing basketball since he could walk, and loved pop music.

It was the worst choice, however, because he got to spend an extra ten minutes with Eunsang. In those ten minutes, Minhee realized that not only was Eunsang pretty, he was also funny _and_ nice. He wasn’t sure why these things bothered him, but it made his chest squeeze strangely, and the feeling confused him.

Eunsang pulled into Minhee’s driveway, but before Minhee could open the car door, he stopped him. “Hey, uh… if you ever need a ride home again, just let me know. I only live a few streets down.” Eunsang explains and smiles at Minhee again.

Minhee doesn’t know why it feels like his face is suddenly heating up, but he nods quickly, ready to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. “Yes, sure, thank you!” He responds, opening the car door and rushing into his house once it’s closed behind him, not looking back.

When he hears Eunsang drive away, he relaxes against his front door and takes a deep breath. What on Earth was that? That wasn’t good. He had to be around Eunsang all the time because of the partner thing on the team. Whatever feelings he was developing, he had to snap out of it and quickly.

**minhee:** i am a fool

**dongpyo:** why, what’d you do?

**minhee:** eunsang is the other sophomore on the team and we’re partners for warmups and stuff… he gave me a ride home today.

**dongpyo:** and this is a problem because….?

**minhee:** because he’s probably the prettiest person i have ever seen and i am a FOOL

**minhee:** i can’t like him! we have to be partners for the rest of the season! what if he finds out and things become awkward? then we’ll ruin the dynamic of the team because we can’t act normal around each other, and the seniors hate us enough already.

**dongpyo:** minhee you’re thinking way too much into this! it’s just a crush, right? he doesn’t know, and doesn’t have to know lol just… idk, ignore it

**minhee:** oh my god wow why didn’t i think of that?? dongpyo you are so smart, truly a genius

**dongpyo:** i can TASTE your sarcasm in that text

**minhee:** good because you’re the damn fool not me :(

**dongpyo:** okay, okay sorry

**dongpyo:** for real though, just see how things go! you’re adorable, maybe he likes you back.

**minhee:** yeah you’re definitely a fool

**dongpyo:** i’m just trying to help you, loser

-

Nothing big happens between Eunsang and Minhee for the next week and a half. They talk before and after practices, walking to the locker rooms and leaving together. They’ve gotten closer, the awkward silences from their first meeting were gone completely. They have the first game on Friday and win by 3 points. Practices come and go throughout the week, things seem like they’re normal. Minhee is thinking that maybe he _can_ just avoid his “feelings” for Eunsang and get through the season without any hiccups or making things weird.

It’s a Thursday when things begin to change. Minhee is a mess in the library during lunch, trying to cram for the chemistry test that he had during his sixth period. He had to keep at least a 3.0 GPA to play in any of the games, and if it drops below a 2.8, he can’t even practice. The problem here was that while Minhee excelled in all of his other subjects, chemistry was hard. He didn’t understand any of the concepts and was barely scraping by with a C-. The C- was dragging his GPA down to a 2.9 and it was only a matter of days before Coach Park pulled him aside to tell him he couldn’t play in the game next Friday because of his grades. He _had_ to pass this test.

Minhee jumps when a body slides into the chair across from him, looking up to see Eunsang smiling softly at him. “Hey,” Eunsang greets, setting a literature textbook on the table in front of him, “What are you studying for?”

Minhee groans, setting his head down on top of his open chemistry textbook and notes. Eunsang whistles quietly, “Whoa, okay, sorry for asking.” He jokes.

Minhee lifts his head, “Sorry,” He apologizes, “I’m studying for chemistry. I have a test today I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail and drop my grade down to a D… and then it’ll drag my GPA low enough that I won’t be able to play in next Friday’s game or go to practices.”

Eunsang rests his head in his hand, staring at the other boy, “Your GPA is that bad already?”

Minhee rubs his eyes, “I know, I know… I’m normally great in school. I’ve been on the honor roll every year since middle school. It’s just been a rough start to the year and I’ve been stressed a lot, so my grades aren’t as good as they usually are. Not to mention chemistry is the bane of my existence, and if my C- drops any lower, it’ll take my 3.1 GPA down to below a 2.9 and then it’s bye-bye basketball… and honor roll.”

Eunsang is quiet for a second, before pulling Minhee’s chem notebook over to himself and wincing. “Well…” He begins, “Taking better notes might be a good place to start. It’s no wonder you’re not understanding anything when you have step three written down first and then step one and two on a completely separate page.”

Minhee flushes. His note-taking was usually better than this, but he really has been stressed this year. It wasn’t his fault that chemistry was so boring that his mind tended to drift away to thoughts of pretty boys with pretty smiles when he should be paying attention and taking clear notes. He couldn’t keep track of anything in his notes now, and it was taking a toll on his studying and grades.

“Yeah… I don’t know, it’s hard to focus and so things get jumbled a lot.” Minhee offers lamely.

Eunsang just laughs and pulls out a few highlighters from his pencil bag. “Here,” He pops open a yellow highlighter, starting to highlight things. “I’ll highlight what goes together and then I’ll number things for you so you can see the best order to write them.” He switches to a blue highlighter.

Minhee makes a noise to show he heard and allows himself to stare at Eunsang as he highlights and numbers the mess that was his notes. His face was furrowed in concentration, and Minhee found his chest doing the weird squeezing thing again as he watched Eunsang do something for no other reason that to help Minhee. He wasn’t gaining anything from it, besides Minhee still being able to play, but he was doing this for him anyway.

Eunsang looks up, and Minhee diverts his glance quickly, face flushing. Eunsang smiles, sliding the papers back to him. “There you go. If you have time before your test, try rewriting this all in order. It’ll help you remember it better and you know, in order, too.”

Minhee laughs and rubs his head sheepishly. “Yeah, I’ll try that. Thank you, Eunsang, you literally saved my life here.”

Eunsang laughs loudly—as loudly as one can in a library—and Minhee decides that that sound was in his top 5 all-time favorite sounds. “I’m sure,” Eunsang jokes back, “I passed chemistry at my other school, so if you ever need any other help, just let me know, okay?”

Eunsang was looking at Minhee in such a sincere way, he couldn’t refuse. That’s how Eunsang ended up tutoring Minhee during lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

-

“Eunsang!” A voice calls from the other side of the cafeteria, causing Eunsang, Junho, and Hyeongjun to look up in confusion.

There’s a blur of color as Minhee comes into view, and Eunsang has to fight back a grin. He had become quite fond of the other sophomore but would deny vehemently that it was because he liked him any way that wasn’t platonic whenever Junho or Hyeongjun asked. (However, in reality, when Minhee laughed or tripped over his too-tall self at practice, or did a cute victory dance when he made a basket, Eunsang’s heart skipped a beat. Sometimes, when Eunsang was bored in class he would daydream about hanging out with Minhee and doing things that aren’t considered “platonic”. Like, getting ice cream but sharing a cup, or holding hands and going to the fair together so Eunsang could win a stuffed animal for Minhee even though all the games were rigged.)

Minhee slides to a stop in front of the trio and puts his heads on his knees, a paper clutched in his right hand, as he pants to catch his breath. “What’s up?” Eunsang asks concern lacing his voice.

He ignores Hyeongjun’s sudden coughing fit that sounded a lot like “whipped” and Junho’s half-hidden laughter. “Look!” Minhee exclaims instead of answering Eunsang’s question, shoving the paper in front of his face.

Eunsang grabs the paper and moves it back so he could read what it said. It’s a chemistry test, one that has topics that Eunsang had helped him reorganize that first time they had studied together in the library. At the top of the paper, there’s a green 81% with a B- written next to it. Minhee is practically glowing standing next to the table, and Eunsang looks up grinning at the other. “That’s awesome!” He says, excitedly.

Minhee slides into the seat next to Eunsang, “Yeah, it’s because of you helping me with my notes!” He explains, “All the tutoring you’ve been doing has brought my grade up to a B in the class, and my GPA’s like a 3.5 now! I can play the rest of the season at this rate!”

Eunsang grins, nudging Minhee’s shoulder with his. “I knew you could do it!”

Junho decides it was his time to intervene, “Hi!” He says energetically, “I’m Junho and this is Hyeongjun. We’re Eunsang’s best friends because no one else will put up with him.”

Hyeongjun laughs loudly, and Eunsang reaches across the table to slap at the two, but they dodge it. Hyeongjun grins at Minhee. “Eunsang’s a loser, don’t trust anything he tells you that makes him seem cool.” He tells him.

Minhee laughs too, and Eunsang wants to see Minhee that bright and happy all the time. “Okay!” Minhee plays along, “I’m Minhee, by the way. The other sophomore on the basketball team.”

There are footsteps behind them, and Dongpyo makes himself known by shoving Minhee’s shoulders as he sits next to him, “You’re a bitch!” Dongpyo cries, falling across the table dramatically. “You just ran off and left me in the science hallway! You scared me _and_ ditched me!”

Minhee drops his head guiltily, ‘Sorry,” He apologizes, “I was just excited about my test score and needed to show Eunsang.”

Dongpyo sighs, just as dramatically, “It’s fine, I’m over it.” Dongpyo smiles so Minhee would know he wasn’t upset with him, seriously.

Minhee pushes him away from where Dongpyo’s still draped dramatically. “Your theatre kid is showing, by the way.” He tells him.

Hyeongjun and Junho who had been silent since Dongpyo showed up, staring at the boy in awe, suddenly snap out of it. They overlap each other as they try to talk, “Oh! You’re Son Dongpyo!”

“You’re the theatre prodigy!”

“Everyone talks about you!”

Dongpyo jumps at the intensity in their voices, and Minhee can hear his breath hitch as he looks at the others, stuttering out, “Y-Yeah, that’s me.”

Minhee turns to Eunsang, a mischievous grin on his face. Eunsang furrows his eyebrows as Minhee glances at the clock on the wall. “Oh, Eunsang! We’re going to be late for the basketball meeting!”

He stands up quickly, pulling Eunsang with him. “Basketball meeting? Wha—“

“Yeah, it starts in two minutes in the locker rooms, remember?” Minhee explains, staring at Eunsang, begging him to play along.

He turns towards Hyeongjun, Junho and Dongpyo. Dongpyo is trying to shake his head at Minhee discreetly but Minhee pretends not to see. “We’ll see you guys later!”

He pulls Eunsang towards the locker rooms, who finally speaks up again. “There’s a basketball meeting?” He asks confused.

Minhee rolls his eyes fondly, “No, Dongpyo just definitely likes Hyeongjun and Junho, and I’m pretty sure they’re enamored with him too. I decided that if we left, they would have no choice but to talk to each other and inevitably fall in love.” Minhee explains, sitting against the wall.

Eunsang looks at Minhee in awe, a smile gracing his face. “I like the way you think, Cupid.” He sits next to Minhee.

Minhee laughs, but couldn’t help thinking that if _that_ were true, he’d be able to tell Eunsang how he felt and have Eunsang feel the same way.

Too bad he wasn’t really cupid.

-

Another two weeks pass and the end of the season was creeping up. There were two games left and those two games would decide whether or not the team makes it to districts and then possibly the championships. Minhee and Eunsang have fallen into a routine of Eunsang taking Minhee home every day, continuing their tutoring sessions during lunches on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and hanging out on Saturdays too.

They had become closer than Eunsang was with Hyeongjun or Junho, or Minhee and Dongpyo. Minhee wasn’t sure when it happened but somewhere along the way, their friendship had blossomed into something Minhee hadn’t experienced before. The seniors on the team had warmed up to the duo more as time had passed, and the team had become close. However, it was obvious to everyone that Minhee and Eunsang were best friends, the others on the team left them to do their own thing most of the time.

Eunsang was driving Minhee home like every night when Minhee decided to ask a somewhat serious question. “Are we still going to be friends after the season ends?”

Eunsang spares a quick glance at the other as the light turns red. “What kind of question is that? Of course, we will!”

Minhee smiles, “I was just… worried that you saw this as only a basketball season friendship.”

Eunsang shakes his head exasperated, “If this is your way of trying to get rid of me, it’s not going to work.” He jokes, “You’re stuck with me Kang Minhee.”

“I think I’m okay with that,” Minhee whispers.

Eunsang couldn’t be sure he heard him right, but his heart skips a beat and then speeds up as his palms become a little sweaty. Minhee didn’t say that, right? Minhee didn’t like him too, did he? “What was that?” Eunsang asks.

Another red light and Eunsang looks over to see an obvious blush growing on Minhee’s cheeks. “What? Nothing.” Minhee says quickly, trying to sink back into the seat.

Eunsang grins, “Okay,” He responds, deciding to allow Minhee to think that he wasn’t completely obvious in his feelings.

Minhee was like an open book, Eunsang decided. He was okay with that, especially if it made it easier to believe that Minhee liked him back. “Do you want to stop and get ice cream?” Eunsang asked.

Minhee doesn’t hesitate before saying yes.

The two find themselves sharing a too-small booth in an ice cream parlor. (Seriously, who thought that anyone could fit into this booth comfortably?) Minhee had a small cup of chocolate and strawberry ice cream, and Eunsang had gone for mint chocolate chip. “Gross,” Minhee muttered, scrunching his nose when Eunsang had sat across from him.

Eunsang scoffs, “What? Don’t tell me you don’t like mint chocolate chip ice cream.”

Minhee shrugs, “I just don’t like my ice cream tasting like toothpaste, is all.”

Eunsang stops with ice cream halfway to his mouth, “What the hell kind of toothpaste are _you_ using?”

The image of it all makes Minhee choke on his ice cream, which in turn makes Eunsang burst into laughter as well. “Hey!” Minhee exclaims once he’s able to breathe again, “Don’t laugh at me! I could have died.”

Eunsang tries to stop his laughing, “Sorry, sorry—“ He gets out before breaking down into a fit of giggles again.

Minhee scoops a bit of ice cream onto his spoon while Eunsang is busy dying and leans across the table to smear the pink ice cream across Eunsang’s cheek. Eunsang stops instantly, freezing, and Minhee’s worried for a moment that he’s made a mistake. That maybe this was stepping over a line that Eunsang had drawn that Minhee hadn’t been aware of. Maybe Minhee had been reading into things, and Eunsang was going to get upset at him for making things uncomfortable.

However, none of that happens. While Minhee was having a crisis, Eunsang scoops some of his mint chocolate chip ice cream onto his spoon and onto Minhee’s cheek. Minhee lets out a squeak, glaring at Eunsang. “You put your toothpaste ice cream on my face!” He exclaims loudly.

“You put your—your fruit ice cream on mine!” Eunsang exclaims just as loudly between his giggles.

Within moments a small ice cream fight breaks out between the two. After a little too much ice cream had been smeared across their faces, then onto napkins, a breathless silence falls onto the two. Minhee and Eunsang have a moment where they’re both looking at each other, matching pink cheeks. “We… we should go, huh?” Minhee breaks the silence, “It’s getting kinda late.”

“Y-yeah,” Eunsang nods, “Let’s go.”

-

The last two games of the season pass in a blur of orange balls and shoes squeaking loudly on gym floors. Minhee and Eunsang start hanging out after practice almost every day. Sometimes they go and get food or walk around the park near Minhee’s house, one time they even went and saw a movie they had both wanted to see.

Right before the last prequalifying game of the season, Coach Park pulls Minhee and Eunsang aside to tell them that he’s really happy of how well they’ve been working together. “I don’t know what you guys did, but whatever it is, I want you to continue to do it so I can see you both on the team again next year.”

After Coach Park walks away, Eunsang turns to Minhee. “What _did_ we do?” He asks.

Minhee laughs, “I have no clue but I’m happy, whatever it was.”

A small blush graces Minhee’s face as he registers what he says, but Eunsang just smiles, “Me too.”

They win the game that night and make it to districts. Hyeongjun, Junho, and Dongpyo are standing next to each other in the stands, colorful posters with Minhee and Eunsang’s numbers on them next to them on the floor, as they hold hands. They weren’t officially together, but the sudden handholding and hugging were enough for Minhee and Eunsang.

After Eunsang and Minhee had changed, the five of them go out to eat. The trio tries to secretly hold each other’s hands under the table every now and then, and Eunsang and Minhee both wish that they had the guts to reach under and grab the other’s hand, too.

-

They place first as districts and the team earns themselves a spot in the championship finals. Both Minhee and Eunsang’s parents come to the games, and Minhee notices them sitting next to each other in the stands, talking animatedly about something. “I didn’t know our parents knew each other!” Minhee says to Eunsang, pointing them out.

Eunsang flushes bright red, “Oh… my mom told me during lunch that she saw your mom’s sweatshirt that had your name and number on it and introduced herself to them. They started to talk, and sat next to each other when the next game started up.”

Minhee blushes too, “I didn’t know your parents knew about me.”

Eunsang doesn’t make eye contact, “I didn’t know your parents knew about me, either.”

“Guys!” Hyeongjun and the others rush up to them, “Congrats!”

The trio starts hugging Minhee and Eunsang when Dongpyo stops, “Why are both of your faces so red?”

If possible, their faces both turn redder.

-

The championship comes faster than either of them could have imagined. Suddenly, there’s ten minutes before the final game starts, and Silver Oaks is playing the best team in the area and Minhee was so, _so_ nervous.

Eunsang takes a shot in the dark and reaches over to grab Minhee’s hand while Coach Park is giving his last big pep talk. Once again, Minhee’s face flushes as he glances at Eunsang. Eunsang grins brightly at him. Minhee squeezes his hand—a silent thank you, the butterflies and nerves calming slightly as he remembers that no matter what happens, Eunsang is right there to experience it with him.

The game is the closest game of the entire season. Silver Oak will score three points, pushing ahead, and then the other team will score four. It’s a constant back and forth as they go into double overtime. Both MInhee and Eunsang were getting plenty of court time, the team hyped on adrenaline. There are 30 seconds on the clock, and they’re down two points—56 to 54. It’s the final time out, and they’re all in a circle, Coach Park talking. “I don’t care who it is taking the shots. Just get that ball into the hoop as many times as you can, okay?”

They’re back on the court in the next blink of an eye. The clock’s counting down, and Minhee doesn’t remember seconds going by so quickly in his life.

30 seconds… 25… 20… 15… he’s running and scooting past players, trying to keep himself open in case the ball comes toward him.

The ball is in the other team’s hand, but a blur of color passes and the ball is in Eunsang’s hand. There are loud cheers from everyone, and Minhee feels his heart rate spike. Eunsang was able to fake it past three of the best members on the other team. _10 seconds on the clock_.

It’s a sprint toward the hoop, the other team left in the dust. Minhee finds himself stuck to the floor. _5 seconds_ , Eunsang bends his knees, looks toward the hoop and lets the ball go. _3… 2…_ the ball sinks through the net right as the buzzer goes off. The crowd erupts into ear-splitting cheers and Minhee is frozen for another second as he watches the score on the board go from 56-54 to 56-57. They did it, they won. Because of Eunsang.

Suddenly he’s sprinting down the court to where Eunsang is surrounded by the rest of their team, cheering loudly. He’s able to force himself through the crowd of team members and excited audience members, to where Eunsang was in the middle.

“Eunsang!” He screams, and Eunsang turns quickly at the sound of his voice.

“Minhee!” He exclaims happily when he sees him, “We did it! We—“

Something overtakes Minhee as he grabs Eunsang’s face in both his hands and plants his lips onto Eunsang’s.

Eunsang lets out a small _mrph_ as his words are cut off but quickly kisses Minhee back. It feels like in the movies when the loud cheers and whistle fade into silence as romantic music starts to play and the camera pans around the two boys kissing in the middle of the basketball court.

Minhee pulls away first, face flushed, Eunsang’s matching. “You did it,” Minhee whispers.

Eunsang grins but the moment is ripped apart as Junho, Hyeongjun, and Dongpyo appear. “Ha!” Dongpyo almost screams, “You both owe me $25!”

Eunsang sputters indignantly, “You guys bet on us?”

Minhee furrows his eyebrows, “On _what_?”

Hyeongjun rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, “We bet @10 on who would kiss who first,”

“And $15 on when,” Junho adds. “Dongpyo won both.”

The trio started to bicker on whether or not they actually had to pay Dongpyo. MInhee glances over at Eunsang who’s already looking at him fondly. He reaches over and laces their fingers together. Eunsang grins, and it seems like they’re both glowing. “Wanna go out sometime?” Eunsang asks greasily.

Minhee hits him with his free hand, “You’re such a dork!” He exclaims, and Eunsang breaks down in the same tinkling laughter Minhee loves so much.

Eunsang catches his breath, the trio still bickering in the back, “The answer is yes, by the way.” Minhee says, “I’ll go out with you.

Eunsang grins even wider, eyes crinkling, “Who would’ve thought?” He asks, “The two varsity outcasts end up together at the end.”

Minhee flushes pink at the mention of the dorky thing he said the first day they officially met. “I guess we _did_ star in a teen rom-com.”

“Yeah,” Eunsang says quietly, looking down at their linked fingers. “We did.”

**Author's Note:**

> come follow me on [twitter!](https://twitter.com/clnnaminhee) i mainly just scream about minhee and sejun!


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